There was a dog named Piggy, because he was fat and had a short stubby tail. He actually lived across the river, but he often came to visit his cousins, Tarzan and Wuona, who lived next door to us.

Cast of tiger paw print left in the mud

I say "lived" because one day they went with their owner to the farm. The owner heard them barking furiously. He thought they had caught an animal. Suddenly, everything went quiet. The owner never saw them again. We strongly suspect the tiger got them. One night, we heard something run by the house. Then we heard people shouting and banging the side of their house. The neighbour came by with his flashlight and told us what had happened. For some reason, Piggy decided to go visit them that night. Our neighbour told him that was very dangerous, and if he kept that up, he would become tiger-bate. Only minutes later, they heard something sniffing and scratching. They heard Piggy growl, yap, then a thud. They raced to the window, and there was the tiger, walking calmly away. Our neighbours started shouting and banging on their walls. Mr. John ran over to get Mr. Able. They looked everywhere with their flashlights. About that time they heard a splash down by the river. They ran to the landing. Sure enough, there was the tiger, climbing up the steep bank on the Venezuelan side! Its paw prints were deep in the mud. The next night Mr. Able went tiger hunting across the river. It was a very dark spooky night. With his flashlight and his gun, he followed the tiger tracks up a jungle path. As he stepped over a big log, something struck at his pant leg. He

Dead Bushmaster which struck Mr. Able

whirrled around and shot at the object. Looking closer, he discovered it was a huge bushmaster, poison dripping from its fangs! He decided he'd done enough hunting for one night. The next day, he brought it to us. It was 7 feet, 10 inches long. My cousin, Kristen, skinned it.

Poor Piggy was still alive, but he was paralized. He had a big bloody wound on his neck. His owner took him back to her house. The next night the tiger carried him away. During the day she heard a dog yelping. She wondered if Piggy might still be alive. A few nights later, Mr. Albert, our neighbour up the hill, heard a dog yelping. In the morning he went outside, and he saw only half of Roger, his dog. Poor Roger-Dodger, tried to dodge the tiger, but didn't make it.

One morning my grandpa and grandma walked up to the runway. There in the sand were tiger prints right on the trail. We went up and made three plaster prints. They measured 4 inches across. We also found smaller tracks, which makes us think there is a cub. Some of the village people say they have seen two tigers. By this time, the tiger had gotten 14 dogs. This was getting serious. We decided we needed to make a tiger trap. We asked all the remaining dogs if one of them would volunteer to be the tiger-bate. Not a one raised his paw. We tried to explain

Me holding the front part of the pole with the 100 lb tiger

that if one of them didn't volunteer, all of them might become tiger-bate. Still no volunteers. In fact, the next day, we heard that one dog named Tweenkie high-tailed it to Georgetown. (It seems he had connections with the local pilot--Tweenkie's mistress is the pilot's daughter).

One of my friend's, Alexy, built a little house with strong bark to protect his dog during the night, but the tiger broke right through it. We saw deep scratch marks all around it.

Early one morning, Dicky's older brother was walking by the school when he saw it sleeping on the upper varanda. On another night he saw it sleeping under the church.

On the night of the 6th of September, the tiger got Clemont's dog (he is my friend and neighbour). He only ate half of

Dead tiger showing bullet wound and large teeth

it and left the rest in the bush. Alexy's father and one of the policemen decided to try to shoot the tiger. They built a little platform in one of the trees near the half-eaten dog. In the evening they climbed up on the platform to wait. During the night they heard something sniffing. Alexy's father shone his flashlight down at the noise. Two big yellow tiger eyes gleamed back up at him. Quickly the policeman aimed his army rifle at it and shot a big hole in its neck. They scrambled out of the tree, and Alexy's father shot it between the eyes to make sure it was dead. The next morning we all went up to see it. It was a female, fat because of all the dogs it had eaten. It seems she was old because her teeth were not sharp. They look worn down. The villagers are going to skin it, then feed the meat to the few remaining dogs!

By Carlos Gates

You may write to Carlos at: gates@andrews.edu

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